Ladder-backed Woodpecker

During the second week of January 2009, while walking along the trail that runs down to the little pond in our neighborhood, I decided to make it a point to come out at least once a week and count birds to try to get a sense of what birds are in the neighborhood, when they’re here and how many I could see.

I jokingly called it my Pond Trail Big Year, mainly because I didn’t expect to see all that many birds on our little stretch of trail. It turned out to be more of a medium or even small-sized year, but still worth every moment. Keeping counts and lists is cool, but for me it’s more of a memory tool since I’ve never been terribly competitive about such things.

I managed to keep my commitment to birding the trail at least once per week, expect for a week in May when we were in Missouri and a week in August when we were working at Camp Periwinkle. In all, I counted 61 species on the pond trail and if I also include the birds I saw at my house and the birds I saw on the regional trail (with which the pond trail connects) leading to the lake where Double-crested Cormorants, Ring-billed Gulls and Greater Roadrunners can be seen, the number jumps to 67 birds seen on foot, which is a decent number, I think, for someone still learning to find birds.

Ring-billed Gull

It wasn’t long before I started paying attention to more than just the birds. There are trees, wildflowers, rabbits, turtles, deer, butterflies, snakes, and frogs out there. I started to try to pay more attention to those things as well, and it wasn’t long before I went beyond just birding to a different kind of seeing that seemed more a witnessing the little patch of nature just beyond my yard.

Blotched Water Snake

Some of my most memorable days include the day after one of our hailstorms when I saw an Osprey and a Black-and-white Warbler on the same day; the day I discovered the Blotched Water Snakes that live under the bridge; or the time I watched a Yellow-crowned Night Heron catch and kill a crawfish (which made me realize that being boiled alive is probably the easy way out for a crawfish compared to the hard way administered by the night heron).

American Robin

There were times, particularly during last summer’s especially brutal drought-ridden days of infernal heat, on which I had to force myself to get out, knowing I would see only grackles and vultures, but even that was fun since I really do like those birds quite a bit.

Turkey Vulture

I learned a lot about the seasonal migration patterns of my local birds. Things like when the different duck species come and go from the pond, which ones just pass through and which ones stay. I learned where to look for different kinds of birds and what to listen for and how to let my ears guide my eyes when trying to find something.

Ring-necked Ducks and Gadwalls

In addition to learning a lot about birding, I realized some things about the kind of birder I am. I rarely drive to go birding and when I do, it’s usually just to go somewhere else in Austin like Hornsby Bend. There’s something immensely satisfying about walking out one’s door and seeing the birds that live nearby. Considering the toll taken on all wildlife by cars and roads, birding by foot just seems a bit greener, and getting to know an area inspires a deeper understanding of a place that goes beyond the superficial. I think I’d rather know every bird in my neighborhood than see every bird in the state (which isn’t to say I don’t try to see as many birds as I can; rather, I’m just not going to kill myself—or anything else—to do it).

Other people joined me on these walks: my wife (quite frequently), my parents, my father-in-law, various houseguests. It was fun to be able to share some of the discoveries I’ve made, and those were some of my favorite walks.

Here’s the final 2009 Neighborhood Small Year list with stars next to the ones that were life birds:

1. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck *
2. Gadwall
3. American Wigeon *
4. Blue-winged Teal *
5. Northern Shoveler
6. Northern Pintail *
7. Ring-necked Duck *
8. Pied-billed Grebe *
9. Double-crested Cormorant
10. Great Blue Heron
11. Great Egret
12. Little Blue Heron
13. Green Heron
14. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
15. Black Vulture
16. Turkey Vulture
17. Osprey
18. Accipiter sp. *
19. Red-shouldered Hawk
20. American Coot
21. Killdeer
22. Ring-billed Gull
23. White-winged Dove
24. Mourning Dove
25. Greater Roadrunner
26. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
27. Black-chinned Hummingbird
28. Belted Kingfisher *
29. Red-bellied Woodpecker
30. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
31. Downy Woodpecker
32. Eastern Phoebe
33. Ash-throated Flycatcher *
34. Western Kingbird
35. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
36. Blue Jay
37. American Crow
38. Purple Martin
39. Barn Swallow
40. swallow sp.
41. Carolina Chickadee
42. Black-crested Titmouse
43. Carolina Wren
44. Bewick’s Wren
45. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
46. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
47. Eastern Bluebird
48. American Robin
49. Northern Mockingbird
50. European Starling
51. Cedar Waxwing
52. Orange-crowned Warbler *
53. Yellow-rumped Warbler *
54. Black-and-white Warbler *
55. Common Yellowthroat *
56. Chipping Sparrow
57. Song Sparrow *
58. Northern Cardinal
59. Red-winged Blackbird
60. Common Grackle
61. Great-tailed Grackle
62. Brown-headed Cowbird *
63. Baltimore Oriole *
64. House Finch
65. Lesser Goldfinch *
66. American Goldfinch
67. House Sparrow

I’m looking forward to my next walk. I’ll probably keep walking the trail weekly since I did that anyway, but if I don’t feel like it, I won’t. It will also be nice to enjoy walking without listing and counting, though I’ll still list occasionally and continue posting those numbers to ebird for whatever scientific value it may serve.

This was a good exercise for me, but I’m glad to be able to just get back to walking and enjoying the birds, which is what it’s supposed to be about anyway.

Update: This post was included in I and the Bird #118 at Ben Cruchan – Natural History.

Last week, the first day of autumn brought a cold front and rain so it actually felt like fall for a few days. I took a walk down the trail that runs through our neighborhood and was surprised to see that some of the winter residents had started to come back. I didn’t bring my camera since it was raining so no pictures.

I wasn’t expecting to see anything more than the grackles, vultures, jays and doves that I’ve been seeing all summer on these weekly counts down the trail so I was happily surprised by the tapping of woodpeckers. Ladder-backs and Red-bellies are fairly common in the neighborhood during fall and winter, but other than a Downy I saw back in July I hadn’t seen one or heard a woodpecker since early April, but I saw at least 2 Ladder-backs and I think I heard a few more farther down. Welcome back, woodpeckers.

As I approached the pond, I saw one of the Red-shouldered Hawks swoop out over the trail. He had some unfortunate something in his talons. Based on size and color, I suspect it was a dove. I saw him again a little farther along. This time he was sitting in a branch about 30 feet off the trail. He stuck around long enough for me to get a quick look and wish I’d brought the camera since it had stopped raining. This hawk has been teasing me all year and one of these days, I’m going to get a decent picture.

When I got to the pond, I was surprised to see a few ducks. I counted 3 Blue-winged Teal in the reeds on the far side. A few days later, I spotted 6 of them, so the ducks are starting to filter back in from points north. I also spotted 3 Pied-billed Grebes swimming in tight formation a little closer to my side of the pond. I can’t help but wonder if these are the same 3 that spent last winter here. These are the first grebes on the pond since May and the first ducks since early April. Welcome back, waterfowl.

For those who may have forgotten (or for any newcomers), I started a so-called Big Year (really more of a committed small year) back in January to see what birds I could see along the trail within a mile of my house. Here’s the updated list as of last week, the first week of fall:

1. Black-bellied Whistling Duck
2. Gadwall
3. American Wigeon
4. Blue-winged Teal
5. Northern Shoveler
6. Northern Pintail
7. Ring-necked Duck
8. Pied-billed Grebe
9. Great Blue Heron
10. Great Egret
11. Little Blue Heron
12. Green Heron
13. Yellow-crowned Night Heron
14. Black Vulture
15. Turkey Vulture
16. Osprey
17. Red-shouldered Hawk
18. Killdeer
19. White-winged Dove
20. Mourning Dove
21. Black-chinned Hummingbird
22. Red-bellied Woodpecker
23. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
24. Downy Woodpecker
25. Eastern Phoebe
26. Ash-throated Flycatcher
27. Western Kingbird
28. Scissor-tailed Flycathcer
29. Blue Jay
30. American Crow
31. Purple Martin
32. Barn Swallow
33. Carolina Chickadee
34. Black-crested Titmouse
35. Carolina Wren
36. Bewick’s Wren
37. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
38. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
39. Eastern Bluebird
40. American Robin
41. Northern Mockingbird
42. European Starling
43. Orange-crowned Warbler
44. Yellow-rumped Warbler
45. Black-and-white Warbler
46. Common Yellowthroat
47. Chipping Sparrow
48. Song Sparrow
49. Northern Cardinal
50. Red-winged Blackbird
51. Common Grackle
52. Great-tailed Grackle
53. House Finch
54. Lesser Goldfinch
55. American Goldfinch
56. House Sparrow

I took a walk along the trail down to the pond today. It was only about 95°F outside, so I counted it a cool day. Still, I figured I’d see what birds were out, do my weekly count for my Pond Trail Big Year and have a look at what the hailstorm did last week. I forgot to charge my camera battery, so no pictures.

The storm ripped up and beat down most of the undergrowth so walking off the trail was easier, though it was weird with all the leaves that shouldn’t have fallen until autumn on the ground instead of still in the trees. Several trees had fallen across the little creek near the footbridge so it was a lot more open in an area where I’m used to deep shade this time of year.

The reeds near the pond were decimated, and I didn’t see any Red-winged Blackbirds around. That’s where they had been nesting so I wonder if they’ll be back. The herons were away as well so I wonder if their nests got flooded or destroyed in the storm. This was this first time all year that I didn’t see any kind of water bird around the pond.

As to birds, I saw the usual suspects for this time of year: grackles, Blue Jays, mockingbirds, cardinals. In the non-avian category, I saw a rabbit and some kind of a garter snake. Nothing special to add to the bird list, but here’s the updated list for the pond trail, about halfway through 2009:

1. Black-bellied Whistling Duck
2. Gadwall
3. American Wigeon
4. Blue-winged Teal
5. Northern Shoveler
6. Northern Pintail
7. Ring-necked Duck
8. Pied-billed Grebe
9. Great Blue Heron
10. Great Egret
11. Little Blue Heron
12. Green Heron
13. Black Vulture
14. Turkey Vulture
15. Osprey
16. Accipiter sp
17. Red-shouldered Hawk
18. Killdeer
19. White-winged Dove
20. Mourning Dove
21. Black-chinned Hummingbird
22. Red-bellied Woodpecker
23. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
24. Eastern Phoebe
25. Western Kingbird
26. Blue Jay
27. American Crow
28. Purple Martin
29. Barn Swallow
30. Swallow sp.
31. Carolina Chickadee
32. Black-crested Titmouse
33. Carolina Wren
34. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
35. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
36. Eastern Bluebird
37. American Robin
38. Northern Mockingbird
39. European Starling
40. Orange-crowned Warbler
41. Yellow-rumped Warbler
42. Black-and-white Warbler
43. Common Yellowthroat
44. Chipping Sparrow
45. Song Sparrow
46. Northern Cardinal
47. Red-winged Blackbird
48. Common Grackle
49. Great-tailed Grackle
50. House Finch
51. Lesser Goldfinch
52. American Goldfinch
53. House Sparrow

House Finch

I spend a lot of time birding the trail that runs parallel to our street down to the pond. I usually stop at the pond (the trail goes on and connects to an extensive network of trails) and on school days, I typically turn around and head home. It’s a short (maybe half-mile) walk from the door to the pond and back. I typically see a good variety of birds but never counted the species.

This year, starting with curiosity about what kinds of overwintering ducks are on the pond, I began listing the birds I saw and entering my counts into ebird. If I do this for an entire year, I should have a good sense of what birds pass through here and at what times of the year. I’m also curious as to how many species I can find within this short range from my house.

Call it my pond trail big year. Or maybe, it’ll be a small or medium year. I don’t know what to expect, but that’s part of the fun.

I’m not shooting for any specific number since I have no idea what all species are around here. I just want to see how many I see. I’ve already ID’d some life birds on the trail and hopefully a few more will pop up over the next 11 months so there’s that to look forward to also.

Most important, is the excuse to get outside, enjoy nature and watch the world do its thing. Not that I need an excuse for that.

Here’s what I’ve seen so far:

1. Gadwall
2. American Wigeon
3. Northern Shoveler
4. Northern Pintail
5. Ring-necked Duck
6. Blue-winged Teal
7. Least Grebe Pied-billed Grebe
8. Great Blue Heron
9. Great Egret
10. Black Vulture
11. Turkey Vulture
12. White-winged Dove
13. Mourning Dove
14. Red-bellied Woodpecker
15. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
16. Eastern Phoebe
17. Blue Jay
18. American Crow
19. Carolina Chickadee
20. Black-crested Titmouse
21. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
22. Northern Mockingbird
23. Orange-crowned Warbler
24. Yellow-rumped Warbler
25. Northern Cardinal
26. House Finch
27. American Goldfinch